Effects of poverty and quality of the home environment on changes in the academic and behavioral adjustment of elementary school-age children

Abstract

Examined the effects of poverty and the quality of the home environment on changes in the academic and behavioral adjustment of elementary school-age children. Analyses are based on a subset of children (n = 473) from a national data set. The children completed an academic achievement measure in I986 (when they were 5 to 8 years old) and again in 1990. Mothers provided ratings of their children's behavior at the same rime points. Results showed that prior poverty status (number of years in poverty from 1982 to 1985) predicted decreases in math and reading scores and increases in antisocial behavior (from 1986 to 1990). However, number of years in poverty between the 1986 assessment and the 1990 assessment failed to predict changes in adjustment over and above prior poverty status. Quality of the home environment between the two assessments predicted positive changes in adjustment after accounting for poverty status. These effects were independent of child characteristics (i.e., sex, age, and race,) and relevant family background/demographic risk factors that are associated with poverty (i.e., number of children at home, presence of a father figure, mother's age at child's birth, and mother's education).